European Bartender School and Bacardi-Martini Group Create Initiative to Battle Unemployment

Conceived with the aim of battling the concerningly high unemployment rate of 24,6% among young adults under 25 in France, while responding to the ever-increasing demand for talented mixologists, Bacardi-Martini sought after the expert education and bar training provided by European Bartender School. Eager to support this initiative, together they created the completely free 10-week training program ‘Shake Your Future’ and launched the first instalment on the 2nd of April 2018 in Paris.
‘When Bacardi approached us with this Shake Your Future project, we didn’t hesitate for a single second because the root of this campaign represents all that we stand for. It’s a wonderful initiative, and alongside the Bacardi-Martini Group, we are going to help unemployed people start their career and take their future into their own hands.’ – Adrien Rosier, Communication Manager for European Bartender School

In collaboration with Pôle Emploi, the French Unemployment Office, 10 enthusiastic candidates living in challenging circumstances were selected to take part in the life-changing program that would allow them to kick-start their career in bartending and overcome unemployment and, in certain cases, homelessness. With little to no experience in bartending or mixology, the candidates were taken from novice to sought-after expert throughout the intensive 10-week training program.

To lay the foundations, the initial phase took place in European Bartender School Paris where the aspiring bartenders completed the 4-week International Bartender Course, receiving 100 hours of training, learning over 80 cocktail recipes, but they were also taught the adequate handling of bar material, rules of service and the bartender’s role, so they became fully equipped in terms of bartending knowledge as well as an understanding of working in hospitality. To solidify this knowledge and training, the candidates then undertook work experience in Parisian bars where they were able to put all they had learnt into action, while fine-tuning their skills under the tutelage of professional bartenders and forging relationships with the biggest names in the Parisian bar scene. With this knowledge and experience under their belts, the Shake Your Future candidates flew to Barcelona to complete a further 2 weeks of training with EBS that really took their skills to the next level. During this Advanced Bartending Course, not only are the budding bartenders given the chance to learn specialised techniques from more experts, but they are also able to extend their network even further and discover another important European cocktail scene.

At the end of these 10 weeks of intense 360° education, the 10 candidates put their knowledge to the test by sitting a final exam on the 14th of June 2018. The 7 successful candidates were awarded their diploma on the 21st of June at the graduation ceremony where emotions ran high, and the graduates were filled with excitement at being on the threshold of a long and thriving career in bartending, with the struggles of unemployment as a thing of the past. The graduates of the successful first instalment of Shake Your Future have gone on to secure long-term contracts in some of the top cocktail bars in Paris, such as Flight Bar and Calbar Paris. Thrilled by these positive results that have helped bring fresh talent to the mixology scene in Paris while furthering a social cause, Bacardi and European Bartender School plan to expand this initiative globally, working towards the goal of having 500 Shake Your Future graduates by 2025.